Moment's Notice: Five Impromptu Card Effects

Cameron Francis presents five 100% completely impromptu card effects. This is commercial, easy card magic. No set-ups and no extra props. All you need is a deck, two hands, an interested spectator and you are set to amaze! Here's what you'll find beyond the cover:

Elevation: Four phases of sandwich/elevator/twisting/transpo madness that will make you look like a sleight of hand god. But it's all oh, so easy to do! (See the demo video below.)

Elevation: In this effect, two ’special’ cards are pulled from the deck and placed to the side. A spectator chooses any two cards. The two cards are lost in the center of the deck. The two special cards are shown to be the two black Jacks. With just a shake, the face up Jacks trap a face down card. That card is one of their selections! You explain the Jacks do much, much more. The selection is constantly placed in between the Jacks, and magically rises to the top. Also, the selection magically flips face up and face down in between the Jacks multiple times. The selection is then placed on the table. With just a snap, it turns into the other selection. The deck is spread and the other selection is found face up in the middle.

I’ve always liked the plot in which one selection changes to another, and then the first one somehow appears far away from where it once was. It’s very magical in my mund, the two card transposition. I know a lot of transpositions, but this has turned out to be a very good one. Something I like about this is that the transposition seems to be an afterthought. The other magical events are the main trick. This way, I feel, the transposition is more magical. The method here is pretty easy to do. It will require basic knowledge of card sleights. This is a fantastic routine.

Spin Cycle: “The four Aces are removed from the pack and placed aside. A card is selected, say the Two of Hearts, and lost in the pack. The magician explains that the Aces will be able to identify the card through a strange procedure. One by one, the face down Ace turn face up. The last Ace to turn face up is the Ace of Hearts. This, the magician explains, means that the selected card was a Heart. The Ace of Hearts is placed aside. The spectator cuts the remaining face down Aces into the pack. The deck is cased and the spectator gives the box a spin. The cards are removed from the box and the deck is spread. The Aces are seen face up in the middle with one face down card between them: the Two of Hearts.”

I love the Hofzinser Ace Problem. Love it, love it, love it. I have created my own method, which I love to use. Although I am bias to that method, this one is also very good. I like the idea of using the box. It seems like you’re making the trick sleight-of-hand proof, as you can’t touch the cards. The magic happens on it’s own. This way, you don’t seem to just be someone who is handy with a pack of paste boards, but rather a real magician who can do real magic. That’s an important idea to remember in all of my magic. So, this fits the bill. It’s super cool and super magical. Once again, it’s also pretty easy to do. I recommend you try this out, as it’s a great solution to the Hofzinser Ace Problem.

Emergency!: “A card is selected and lost in the deck. To make his job of finding the card even more difficult, the magician turns half the deck face up and shuffles it into the face down half. Failing twice to find the card, the magician claims that all decks now come equipped with an Emergency button. The button is pressed, the deck is straightened and a previously indifferent card is now discovered to have transformed into the selection.”

Another favorite of mine, Triumph. I cannot think of a better card plot with such a great patter. I really like the additions to the patter Cameron added. It’s not the basic “a young kid shuffled my deck wrong” but it’s a comical solution. The idea of an ‘Emergency button’ reminds me a lot of the ‘Reset button’ in the standard Reset routine. I liked how he applied that to this effect. Onto the method. This is simply FREAKING AMAZINGLY AWESOME. I’ve performed a lot of Triumphs in my magic years, but this is one of the best I’ve seen. The secret move is brilliant. Although it’s stated to be “bold” no one will ever catch it. The display is very clean; they really see half face up and half face down. Simply brilliant. This will be the last Triumph routine I perform. I love this.

Simply Amazing: “The four Aces are removed from the pack and placed to the magician’s left. The spectator cuts the deck into four face down piles and then points to any one of them. The top four cards are removed from the freely chosen pile, shown to be indifferent and are placed face down on the spectator’s hand. The Aces are fairly inserted face down into each pile. The piles are stacked one on top of the other and the deck is then turned face up. The deck in placed on top of the four face down indifferent cards which the spectator has been holding onto. The magician snaps his fingers and spreads through the deck. The Aces are nowhere to be found. The four face down cards at the back of the deck are turned over. They are now the four Aces!”

It sound more confusing than it really is. I actually really like this as well. I think the ending is a great, visually moment. There are also some great subtleties in this effect which really sell it. I think it’s great because the spectator feels there is no possible way the magician could’ve switches the cards that they were holding, because there really isn’t. Well there is… Anyway, this is super clean. The handling is easy, but again, will require basic card handling knowledge. I assume most of you guys already know this stuff. Another winner.

Flying Colors: In this effect, the magician removes four black cards, and four red cards. The two packets are separated. With a snap, the two packet of cards magically and invisibly change places. The spectator removes one card from each packet. With a snap, those two selected cards change places as well.

This is just not for me. I’m sure it’s going to be for a lot of others, but not me. It’s is a nice trick, and I can’t really explain why it doesn’t suit me. Because of that, I will jump into the method and handling. Everything, again, is easy to do. The method is very clean and clever. Some of the magic happens in the spectator’s hands. Another nice part, the cards are not always handled by the magician, eliminating some possible solutions in the spectator’s mind. A nice trick overall.

The Teaching:
Everything is very well taught. There are step-by-step instructions. Also, there are 11 clear photographs that really help. Nothing to complain about.

Overall:
There’s not really much to say. The e-book is nicely made, all components of it. All of these effects are impromptu, hence the title, so they are very practical. All of the effects are amazing. A solid 9.5/10.

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